exida, the global leader in functional safety for the process industries, is pleased to announce the opening of their new office in the Middle East.

“As part of our commitment to improve our service to the existing customer base in the Middle East region, exida has established an office in Abu Dhabi, UAE,” says William Goble, exida Managing Director. “With our new office, we expand our ability to improve safety and reduce cost for safety instrumented system users.”

The new office has staff with the technical capability to provide training and tools, as well as execute PHA, HAZOP, SIL Assignment, Verification, and most other functional safety lifecycle activities. There will be an emphasis on the integration of Functional Safety, Cybersecurity, and Alarm Management as this provides a holistic approach to the current best practices which optimizes results and reduces cost.

Thomas Donato is appointed president of Rockwell Automation’s Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region. Donato was most recently Rockwell Automation’s regional vice president in Canada. He also served as regional sales director of Rockwell Automation’s Northern and Eastern European region. Previously, he was the business director for the company’s services and solutions business in EMEA. Donato is now responsible for driving growth in this important region. He has 18 years of automation industry experience, including the last 11 years with Rockwell Automation.

“Thomas’ extensive experience makes him the ideal candidate for this key leadership role,” said John McDermott, Rockwell Automation senior vice president, global sales and marketing. “His record of building high-performance teams and developing leaders will help achieve our business goals in the EMEA region.”

“We’ll continue to build our business by supporting end user customers and machine builders in two ways,” said Donato. “One is by helping end users realize that The Connected Enterprise is essential today for any company that wants to implement future advanced manufacturing strategies such as Industry 4.0. The other is by making integration seamless for our machine builders. These strategies will contribute to the success of both groups.”

Donato holds a Diplom-Ingenieur degree in automation and controls engineering from the University of Applied Sciences in Darmstadt, Germany. He also studied at the Dublin Institute of Technology in Ireland.

ABB, the leading power and automation technology group, has received orders from Hyundai Heavy Industries for electrical and telecommunication systems. The order is worth around $100 million, with about half booked in the last quarter of 2014, almost $27 million in the first quarter of this year and $20 million in the second quarter. It enables Hyundai Heavy Industries to fulfill its obligations to Abu Dhabi Marine Operating Co. under the contract for EPC Work of Nasr Full Field Development Project (Package 2).

The solution provided consists of power management, power-from-shore and telecom systems which are interconnected to ensure the highest levels of efficiency, reliability and safety. ABB has pioneered and proven the use of power-from-shore for energy platforms to help energy companies reduce emissions, ease operations and improve working conditions by lowering noise levels. The facilities covered by the referred contract will be powered by a 132 kilovolt (kV) AC subsea ring cable from Das Island, about 160 kilometers west of Abu Dhabi.

“ABB’s extensive experience in offshore oil and gas field electrification ensures high reliability and minimizes life-cycle costs, while trimming the oil fields’ environmental footprint,” said ABB Process Automation division President Peter Terwiesch. “This is another example of an order in line with our Next Level Strategy of business-led collaboration between our automation and power portfolios.”

The power management system is based on ABB’s System 800xA Extended Automation control system, which integrates the network of transformers and switchgears and enables operators to control this vast electrical installation in a safe and consistent manner. It includes an intelligent asset management system for predictive maintenance of equipment, reducing operating costs and extending its service life.

ABB will supply 28 bays of compact 132 kV GIS for one onshore and two offshore platform installations as well as medium voltage products including 33 kV gas-insulated switchgear and 11 kV and 6.6 kV air-insulated switchgear. ABB pioneered high-voltage GIS in the mid-1960s and has a global installed base of more than 23,000 bays. Its product portfolio covers voltage levels from 72.5 kV to 1,200 kV.

Additionally, ABB will supply multiple types of transformers, shunt reactors and associated equipment ranging from 500 kVA to 100 MVA, minimizing losses through the lifecycle and lowering environmental impact. The transformers and reactors are suited for hazardous and challenging environments.

Technip, in partnership with UNICO, a Japanese engineering consultant, has been awarded a Project Management Consultancy (PMC) contract on a reimbursable basis, for the upgrading of the Basra refinery. This contract, awarded by South Refineries Company (SRC) – Ministry of Oil, covers the engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning, start-up and warranty management phase of the refinery upgrading project(1), located in Basra, Iraq.

The project will aim at increasing the gasoline production capacity through the installation of a new fluid catalytic cracking unit and associated units like visbreaker, hydrotreating, hydrogen plant, etc. This development is part of the Iraqi Government’s long term plan to meet increasing future demand for hydrocarbon products.

This award follows the PMC contract attributed to Technip in June 2013 for the Karbala refinery. It will be executed by Technip’s engineering center in Milton Keynes, United Kingdom, and supported by Technip PMC teams.

Technip PMC gathers all the know-how and expertise acquired by the Group over the years in executing challenging projects in the world. This new award continues to reinforce our position in PMC in the Middle East.

Nicoletta Giadrossi, President of Technip’s Region A(2), commented: “We are delighted to help SRC and the Iraqi’s Ministry of Oil achieve their goals and business objectives, while meeting safety, cost, schedule and quality targets".

Riccardo Moizo, Senior Vice President for Technip PMC, stated: “We are honoured to have been awarded this important project by SRC. This new award continues to reinforce Technip’s positioning on PMC activities. We are looking forward to assisting SRC in the development of this complex project.”